Tobacco hoist

ABSTRACT

A hoist for raising sticks containing uncured tobacco suspended therefrom into the loft of a barn or other tobacco curing area and manipulating the sticks to position horizontally suspended across the joists of the loft. This is done by one person at ground level without the need of a helper in the loft to manipulate the sticks.

United States Patent [191 Crum 1 1 TOBACCO HOIST [76] Inventor: A. Elmer Crum, 1040 Carson St.,

Greenville, Tenn. 37743 22 Filed: Aug. 1, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 276,970

[ June 25, 1974 3.283.856 11/1966 Stewart 187/9 3,484,007 12/1969 Thomas 1 1 187/9 X 3,576,233 4/1971 Thatcher r 182/145 X 3,608,761 9/1971 Taylor 187/9 Primary ExaminerJames B. Marbert Assistant Examiner-Hadd Slane Attorney, Agent, or FirmDonald R. Cassady [5 7] ABSTRACT A hoist for raising sticks containing uncured tobacco suspended therefrom into the left of a barn or other tobacco curing area and manipulating the sticks to position horizontally suspended across the joists of the loft. This is done by one person at ground level with- 1 out the need of a helper in the loft to manipulate the sticks.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUNZSIBH sum 2 or 3 Fig. 2.

PATENTEDJUNZEW 3.819.013

sum 3 or 3 I] U A I VIEW A-A Fig. 4

Fig. 5

- TOBACCO I-IOIST BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Green tobacco plants or leaves arranged in hands" are draped over sticks of wood of a length to be supportedbetween the joists in the loft of a barn or between a pair of tier poles, spaced-apart vertically arranged sets of poles in a tobacco barn where the green tobacco leaves are stored and curedaccording to known practice in the industry.

Several apparatus have been proposed for lifting sticks of uncured tobacco into the loft of a tobacco curing barn or the like area. These apparatus generally involve a method of suspending ropes from pulleys placed above the level of the joists or tier poles upon which the tobacco sticks are laid. A fork or similar device is provided on the end of the rope to receive the sticks containing the tobacco. In operation the tobacco stick is placed horizontally across the fork and the assembly is operated to raise the stick between the joists or tier poles to a position thereabove. A helper stationed in the loft then swivels the stick through an arc of 90 and positions the stick perpendicular to the joists and at a predetermined distance from the wall or from a previously placed stick. The stick is then lowered to rest on the joists. In removing the tobacco after cure, the procedure is reversed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for loading the joists or tier-poles of a tobacco curing barn with sticks over which are draped the hands of uncured tobacco.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for quickly and efficiently loading the joists or tier-poles of a tobacco-curing barn with sticks over which are draped the hands of uncured tobacco with a minimum of handling, with exact placement of the stick on the joist at predetermined intervals, and completely under the operation of one person standing at floor level. I

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for loading the joists or tier-poles of a tobaccocuring barn which is a simple, easily-fabricated structure, and which can be stored in a minimum of space when not in use.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the, following description and drawings which comprise a portion thereof and are to be read therewith.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side view of the tobacco hoist apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an edge view of the apparatus with the control cable removed;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through A--A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through BB of FIG. 1 and .eral movement at the upper end thereof, onto and at a fixed point adjacent the center of a base plate 2 equipped with legs 3 of sufficient size and weight to support the apparatus at full extension and flexure while containing a stake of tobacco plants. Typically. the single universal joint is swivel and limited lateral motion of the upright beams is provided by mounting the upright beam with a loose fitting ball 4 and socket 14 joint. A handle 5 is mounted by a bracket 8 on the stationary upright beam to manipulate the transverse and rotatory motion of the beams. A winding drum or spool 6 and crank 7 are mounted on the handle. A second beam is slidably mounted on the first beam, which slidable motion is limited by transverse stops 12 at the extreme upper and lower ends of the stationary beam. Typically the sliding motion is provided by wheels or rollers 15 which are mounted on the sliding beams and operate within the channel of the stationary beam.

Depending upon the length of the beams, a second beam can be slidably mounted on the first slidable beam in the same manner as herefor discussed.

A fork, comprising a horizontal T-member 9 and vertical members 10 attached thereto spacially disposed to accept a stake 15 of tobacco stalks 16, is slidably mounted to the last slidable upright beam. Again, a traverse stop 12 is provided at the uppermost limit of traverse of the fork means to limit the slidable motion thereof, and slidability is provided by wheels mounted on the T-bar to operate within the channel of the last slidable beam.

The uppermost end of the stationary upright beam, the uppermost and lowermost ends of each of the slidably mounted beams and the slidablymounted fork member are equipped with pulleys 11 on one side thereof and a rope or chain is disposed thereupon and upon the winding drum or spool 6 in such a manner that operation of the crank 7 to raise the tobacco will slidably move, in a sequential manner, first the fork, then the slidable upright beam that the fork is mounted upon, then any other slidable upright beam to the full uppennost position. Reversal of the direction of motion of the drum will also reverse the direction of and the sequence of motion of the fork and beams. Alternatively a series of electric motors can be disposed at appropriate positions on the apparatus of the invention to cause the proper sequence of motion to occur.

In operation, the fork is placed at a height convenient to a person standing on the ground or floor of the barn or tobacco curing area and below the area where the tobacco is to be stored. A stick containing tobacco to be cured is placed upon the fork, the crank is operated to raise the fork, then the slidable beam or beams sequentially until the tobacco is of sufficient height to pass between the joists or tier poles that the sticks will rest upon. The apparatus is then turned to cause the tobacco stick to be perpendicular to the joists or tier poles. By virtue of the limited transverse motion of the uppermost end of the hoist. The stick is positioned at a desirable distance from a wall of the barn or from a previously placed tobacco stick. Then the crank is operated in the reverse direction to set the stick upon the joist or tier poles. Continuing to operate the crank in the same direction will return the fork to the starting position.

The base is then moved across the floor to a position suitable for the placement of the next tobacco stick and the operation is repeated.

I claim:

1. A tobacco hoist apparatus comprising a base, an upright channeled beam mounted at a fixed point adjacent the center of the base by means of a single joint adapted for horizontal slewing and limited universal transverse motion at the uppermost end, a unit containing at least one slidably mounted channeled beam substantially parallel to and slidably mounted on the upright beam, a fork comprising a horizontal member slidably mounted to the slidable beam farthest from the upright beam and two upright members attached thereto spacially disposed to hold a tobacco stick containing tobaccoplants or hands of tobacco leaves, and

a means for raising the fork to the top of the last slidably mounted beam then raising each of the slidably mounted beams in sequence from the beam farthest from the upright beam to the beam nearest to the upright beam and lowering the same in reverse sequence.

ratus and a rope disposed thereupon. 

1. A tobacco hoist apparatus comprising a base, an upright channeled beam mounted at a fixed point adjacent the center of the base by means of a single joint adapted for horizontal slewing and limited universal transverse motion at the uppermost end, a unit containing at least one slidably mounted channeled beam substantially parallel to and slidably mounted on the upright beam, a fork comprising a horizontal member slidably mounted to the slidable beam farthest from the upright beam and two upright members attached theretO spacially disposed to hold a tobacco stick containing tobacco plants or hands of tobacco leaves, and a means for raising the fork to the top of the last slidably mounted beam then raising each of the slidably mounted beams in sequence from the beam farthest from the upright beam to the beam nearest to the upright beam and lowering the same in reverse sequence.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the unit containing at least one slidably mounted channeled beam, contains two channeled beams slidably mounted therebetween.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for raising and lowering the fork and slidably mounted beams consists of pulleys disposed at the uppermost end of the upright beam, the uppermost and lowermost ends of each of the slidably mounted beams and on the slidably mounted fork member, a winding drum, and crank on a handle attached to the upright of the apparatus and a rope disposed thereupon. 